Beer Week 2010 Super Blog, Pt 11

Day Ten

We began the last official day of the Beer Week with a stop at the Philly Gay Pride Parade. Although nowhere in scale as the bigger ones in other cities, it was regardless a good spectacle with entertaining marchers, plus it’s a good cause.

 

 

Jones

With a long drinking day ahead of us, we thought it was wise to load up with nutrients before the activity started. We went for comfort food at Starr’s touristcentric upscale dinner, Jones.

The BMW Pancake is layers of buttermilk pancakes with caramelized Banana, Maple syrup and toasted Walnuts. I do not like sloppy gooey glop on my pancakes so the BMW toppings became BMW sides for me. The pancakes were big, covering almost the plate itself. They were of good thickness, medium sponginess, very moist to the degree of mushy in the center bottom layers but otherwise good throughout the stack. The “sides” were too sweet for my taste. I could not see how people could eat this dish if the glop was on top covering everything. Breakfast is not the time for a mega-sweet dessert.

Apple smoked bacon is a mandatory item for breakfast.

 

 

The Huevis Rancheros was the usual fried eggs, refried black bean, salsa, avocado, warm tortillas… This Mexican version of a bastardized chop-suey weight about a pound with the plate. The hungry Tourist Tree scoped up the dish faster than Superman could change in the phone booth. She liked it despite that the black beans were pureed into the same texture as the rest of the dish. Aiiyah thought the whole thing looked kind of …vile like looking at bird droppings under a microscope.

 

As we were enjoying our breakfast, we noticed the couple sitting next to us at the counter was sharing a big format bottle of Voodoo Love Child, which led to an interesting conversation about…beer! It happened that they were from Tampa and were in the city specifically for the Beer Week!

Local 44

Doing an encore performance of the Russian River Sunday of Beer Week 2009, Local 44 put every Russian River beer it could get its hands on on tap including the new Registration. I don’t like sucking on grapefruit rinds therefore I wasn’t particularly hot about this American IPA, but the Tourist Tree and just about everybody else at the bar loved it so much that this 7.9% beer was just flying off the tap.

After downing (in this order) Supplication (7% Am.ale), Consecration (10% Am ale), Pliny the Elder (8% Imp IPA), Damnation (7.75% Belgium strong); and with the three guys from the Home Sweet Homebrew next to us, the conversation had become less and less relevant, “Hey, what about the Constipation one?” “It’s a brown ale!” Have you done the Masturbation Ale yet?” “Russian Resignation?”

Joe & Mrs. Sixpack dropped by for a visit. After hanging out for a while, he decided to buy everybody at the bar a Blind Pig (6.1% Am IPA)! Joe just returned from a trip to Sierra Nevada. We suggested that he should do a collaboration beer with them and call it the Joe Sixpack Porter.

Being the Executive Director for the Beer Week, he was very earnest in getting feedback on the events. He was interested in hearing from us about our experience and was even surprised to learn from us about upcoming brews that he didn’t know about.

Mrs. Sixpack and Tourist Tree bonded over yoga talk. She even gave Tree a free pass for her yoga class. The one that seemed most interesting was the monthly yoga social - yoga followed by beer afterward.

Amada

We dragged ourselves out of Local 44 in order to make the sold-out Flying Fish Beer Dinner at Amada on time. With the amount of people attending, the dinner took over the entire space at the back of the restaurant.

Yes, that is Casey Hughes in his Sunday best wearing flip fops in the picture giving an introduction on the beers and the dinner

We were seated six to a table and got to meet some very interesting people from in and out of town. Some were novice in craft beers while others were geeks like us with everybody anticipating an exciting tonight.

Our first beer was the thirst crunching Farm House ale. It was a refreshing low abv (4.6%) treat after having spent an afternoon drinking the heavier duty Russian Rivers

Our table might not have the culinary skills or the celebrity-ness of our neighboring table but we definitely had more fun than them.  

 

Sardinas a la Plancha
Exit 16 Wild Rice Double IPA

Grilled Mediterranean sardines, wild rice and citrus tempura. The fish was awesome! It was fresh, moist, tender, seasoned and grilled perfectly with a sprinkle of tempura flakes on top for textural contrast. The wild rice was a wonderful compliment to the dish. Everything jived very well with the characteristic of the 8.2% Exit 16.

Costillas de Ternera
Exit 6 Wallonian Rye

Braised short ribs, white asparagus escabèche and grilled sourdough. The short ribs went phenomenally well with the Exit 6. Bites of tartness and sourness in the marinade and the sweetness in the rye beer were perfect dance partners. The meat could have been a bit more tender but the white asparagus escabèche on the meat did make it interesting.

Instead of the short robs, Tourist Tree got the Beef Brochettes. These hanger steaks on a stick were also cooked perfectly and went pretty well with the Exit 6.

We really enjoyed this newer release from Flying Fish. The characteristic of this beer would make it an excellent candidate to be barrel aged. Casey?



 

Oh yeah, definitely having a good time.

Cochinillo Asado

Exit 4 American Trippel

Roasted suckling pig, wilted spring greens and truffled rosemary white beans. If there is a dish that we can count on Amada to do it right, it’s the suckling pig. Our beer dinner suckling pig surely had lived up to its legendary reputation. The meat was sublime from the overnight marinating and the double roasting in the oven. What elevated the pig to heavenly reign was the crackling skin. A bite into the skin was pure ecstasy! The by-catches on this dish were very nice; unfortunately they were just a distraction for me.

There is no piggy for the Tourist Tree on this night. As a substitute, she had two absolutely perfectly grilled lamb chops. I would eat these chops on any given night; but for tonight, I would keep my suckling pig and its crackling skin, thank you.

Ostras dos Veces
Exit 1 Bayshore Oyster Stout

Fried Cape May Salt oysters (L) and baked Cape May Salt oysters(R). The fried oyster was topped with a sliver of pickled mushroom and with a sour’ish sauce on the bottom. The combined flavors and texture of the ingredients and the freshness of the oyster made this bite size morsel super awesome. The baked oyster was an ingenious take of the Oyster Rockefeller. A wowing repackage of a by-gone classic without the usual heaviness and greasiness.

The Tourist Tree had Oyster Escabèche with her Exit 1. In her version of the oyster course, she had three individual raw Cape May Salts, each bathing in a colorful escabèche dressing. The sourness and sweetness of the sauce worked very well with the brine in the oyster in providing a harmony to the mouth.



 

 

 

 

 

We love the Exit 1. We never had the Exit 1 served in a snifter. This fine 7% stout brewed with oyster shells tasted just as nice to me in this novel vessel but the noise was definitely more pronounced.

Pairing the Oyster Stout with an oyster dish sounded gimmicky. Fortunately, Amada had done its homework to make the flavors from each component work very well together.

 

 

Postre de Cerveza
Imperial Espresso Porter

The Imperial Espresso Porter is one of my all time favorite beers. It is already on the menu for my “last meal” if I were to have one. Use this beer for a beer float with sweet cream and caramel ice cream was just gilding the lily. That was such a perfect dessert except it came in a small glass and not even half-filled!



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tourist Tree got her usual standard issue food allergy dessert alternative: Sorbet.

Franklin Fountain


In a moment of irrational exuberance, we had post-fest desserts. After such an long fun-filled day and an extraordinary dinner, it would only be fitting to have an absoulate blowout dessert gluttony.

The brownie peanut butter ice cream fudge sundue was satisflying and certainly a good end to finish the day. Torist Tree’s mint chocolate chip soy ice cream was…soy’ish but yummy.









Day Ten Beer Tally:

Russian River Registration
Russian River Supplication
Russian River Consecration
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Russian River Damnation
Russian River Blind Pig
Flying Fish Farm House Ale
Flying Fish Exit 16 Wild Rice Double IPA
Flying Fish Exit 6 Wallonian Rye
Flying Fish Exit 4 American Trippel
Flying Fish Bayshore Oyster Stout
Flying Fish Imperial Espresso Porter

And yes, we were still standing after all of these.

 
 
 
 
 

 

Beer Week 2010 Super Blog, Pt 10

Day Nine


It’s the USA vs. England World Cup match. We planned on watching the game with fellow football (the one which they play with their feet kicking the ball, not the other one which they run around holding the ball with their hands and stop every few seconds) lovers at the block party on giant screens with a few brews in the hands, until we arrived.

As we were approaching the block where MisConduct and Fado are located, we could see the street was already jam packed with people. There were just heads and bodies as far as the eyes could see and it was so packed that nobody was even moving within the crowd. We noticed the long line of people still trying hoping to get in and decided that there would be no game for Aiiyah and Tourist Tree at this block party. I was surprised to see so many in Philly were into watching a non-traditional spectator sport in the US. May be soccer is finally getting a foot hold in this country; now all we need are the hooligans!

Plan B called for Good Dog but it was also so packed that it would not even let people in. Of all those years we have been going to Good Dog, this was the first time that we ever encountered this place having to shut the door because of over-crowding.

Varga Bar

Quick thinking down the list of places with good brews and big TV led us double-timing to Varga Bar as the kick off time was approaching fast. The bar was holding the Beer of Legend's Clone Brew Wars with home brewers trying to clone some of the famous beers like Duval, Pliny the Elder, etc. The actual beers were available on tap for comparison so patrons could vote for their favorite.

 

 

 
 

There was a nice relaxingly happy crowd at the bar for the Clone event. While some had not even a slight knowledge about soccer, a good number of people had their eyes glued to the TV as soon as the game started.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

We celebrated USA’s play at the World Cup with Avery Collaboration but Not Litigation. We were introduced to this 8.72% dark Belgium ale during the Beer Week a few years ago. The beer is a collaborated blend of the Avery Salvation and the Russian River Salvation. This Salvation2 made us very happy this afternoon cheering our Team USA.

I shouldn’t but I did it. I noticed the Southern Tier Mokah still on tap. After already have drunk an ample amount of this liquid gold a few nights ago, I shouldn’t but I couldn’t refuse the temptation. You just don’t see Mokah on tap that often. When you see it, you just gotta have it!

A lot of interesting kegs went in and out of the Varga storage basement.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

As the game was winding up, a parade of people supporting LGBT rights marched past Varga.

It lasted a few blocks and was holding up the traffic but nobody seemed to mind.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

It didn’t stop people from celebrating drinking even though the game had been over for a few hours.

We walked past The Coffee Bar at the Warwick Hotel and went in for a peek. Besides the usual fares that one can expect at a coffee place, The Coffee Bar lives up to the “Bar” part of its name with a nice offering of craft beer. It even has happy hour!

Making a stop at the Rittenhouse Square Park to enjoy the fine weather with people practicing tango entertained us.

Miga

Miga bills itself as an upscale Korean restaurant with affordable and non-intimidating food.

We started with a bowl of Yuk Gae Jang, a spicy shredded beef and vegetable soup. The bowl consisted mainly of zucchini, onion, and some beef. It had good consistency with a flavorful broth but was lacking in spiciness that would make this dish stand out. It might be a good introduction to Korean food for the plain food crowd but definitely a disappointment when it came to authenticity.



 

Bibimbop
 
Assortment of vegetables over rice with a sprinkle of seaweed and several strips of “fried egg” which were basically strips of thin omelet. It tasted OK after some gochujang (hot bean paste) was added to it.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Dol Sot Bibimbop

It was pretty much the above dish except served with eel and in a hot sizzling stone bowl. The dol sot bibimbop is one of Tourist Tree’s favorite Korean dishes. The trick of a good dol sot bibimbop is the super hot sizzling stone bowl which cooks the raw egg and crisps the rice when you mix everything together in the bowl. Miga got the hot sizzling part right but putting strips of cooked egg in the bowl instead of a raw egg was like putting ketchup on a pizza. On the plus side, the finely diced eel pieces were tender and tasty even they were very much lacking in quantity.

We visited Miga shortly after it opened last year and again a few months later. After both visits, we came back with the same impression that the place was still a work in progress. At least something is consistent. We still found the staff unfocused, not well-informed, and the service was amateur at best. We once asked our waitress what a particular dish on the menu was like. She replied, “I don’t know.., we don’t get to taste the food here…” (At least she was honest!) I welcome a restaurant serving ethnic food in a more upscale environment; however, I have a problem with a place “dumbing down” the food thinking that it will appeal to more people. We found the food during our initial visits acceptable and were looking forward to the kitchen getting its grove to start cranking out tasty Korean treats. Unfortunately, the owner has decided to dial down its food (and its spiciness) and has gone the opposite direction. Dumbing down doesn’t make your food approachable, cooking with quality and from the heart does. The best Miga had to offer was still the banchen (side dishes) which I would consider as more interesting than some of the more authentic places in the Korean neighbor by 5th Street.

Dumbing down the food and not hiring good help or giving your staff good training (a table away from us was not bused promptly after the party had left leaving empty dishes and glasses on the table for over 20 minutes or a hostess asking us if we were there for the BBQ then took us to a table without a BBQ grill after we had told her yes) was just … dumb!



Day Ten Beer Tally:
 
Avery Collaboration but not litigation
Southern Tier Mokah

Beer Week 2010 Super Blog, Pt 9

Day Eight


Chifa

Happy Hour is a happy occasion with people relaxing, drinking, blowing off steam from the life’s drama and every day BS. We stopped by Chifa for the Beer Week Happy Hour with the restaurant running a promotion on Victory Beer(s).

The strange thing was, we didn’t find much of an occasion going on at Chifa when we arrived. There was a small office crowd pretenders at the bar munching on the reduced price happy hour snacks drinking fu fu cocktails. A couple of tourists, two women loading up on happy hour food before heading to the theater, a couple who looked like they were married but not to each other..; but none seemed to be in a sociable happy mood nor drinking beer. It didn’t help that the bar wasn’t even promoting the beer event and we had to ask the bartender specifically if the Victory beers were on special.

We decided that that was going to be a one beer stop. Before we walked out of the place, we had a pork bun which I considered as one of the best thing on Chifa’s menu. The combination of the spongy bun, sweet sauce, and the sliver of pork belly was just what we needed as a late afternoon snack. We washed that down with a Victory Summer Love ale which was brewed in conjunction with the Philadelphia Tourism marketing campaign. We didn’t have a pork bun and a Summer Love each, We split a pork bun and a Summer Love.

Good Dog Bar

Back at more friendly territory, we stopped by the Firkin-Off between the Sly Fox Chester County Bitter and the Southampton Burton Ale at the packed Good Dog. The rule is simple: Whoever empties the firkin first wins.

The competition was fierce as each brewer tried to pour as fast and as much beer as possible for the willing thirsty crowd.

Reminescent of a college scene, there were people chucking several beers at a time to help their side. I wondered if they would do the chucking if it weren’t for the low abv on the beers (4.5% for the Sly Fox, 4.4% for the Southampton)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

It was good beer and good entertainment, especially for those who didn’t know what was going on when they walked into the door.

It was over before you realize. Sly Fox kicked its firkin in a record 11 minute 57 seconds!

Varga Bar

After the excitement at Good Dog, we stopped by the more tranquil Varga Bar for a pre-dinner / post- firkin-off drink. The Southern Tier “Phin & Matt’s” American Pale Ale is a 5.5% easy drinking and tasty treat. Tourist Tree loved the “Gemini” Imperial Blended Ale from the same brewery. As the name has suggested, this 9.0% ale is a blend of the Southern Tier Hoppe Imperial EPA and the Southern Tier Unearthly Imperial IPA, with a slight burbon-ish hint.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Han


Spice is a stimulant to the tongue receptors needed after several hours being awashed in beer suds. We decided to give our tongue receptors a treat at our favorite Chinese restaurant specializing in spicy Sichuenese cuisine.

The Fish and Tofu in Hot Broth was a big bowl of lightly fried fish fillet and silky soft tofu in a super flavorful broth accented with whole soy bean, diced red chili, and a few leaves of parsley. The dish was not the usual mouth numbing spicy hot but the liquid was so addictive that we just could not stop eating it.



 
 
 
 

There are only two words that I would like to describe the Tea Smoked Duck: “Freaking awesome!” The skin was super crispy with the meat excellently tender and full of tea flavor both in aroma and in taste. There are four steps in the preparation of this dish with each step done on a different day; marinate, air-dry, braise, and deep fry (right before serving).  

Our misfortune turned into a nice surprise. After the waiter mistakenly sent our leftovers out the door with another customer (he even ran out of the door trying to look for him), Han made us a special spicy stir-fried crab to take home. The aroma from the package was so alluring that we started munching on some the pieces as we were walking down the street on the way to our next stop. Yes, we had a full dinner already but we still kept eating. I swear that Han puts drugs in his food.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Franklin Fountain

Day Eight Beer Tally:

Victory Summer Love

Sly Fox Chester County Ale

Southampton Burton Ale

Southern Tier “Phin & Matts” American Pale Ale

Southern Tier “Gemini” Imperial Blended Ale

No night is complete until Tourist Tree gets her dessert.